Basketball Notebook : Playoff Foes Decided in--Not on--Court

When a judge issued a temporary restraining order allowing Muir High back into the Southern Section playoffs last week, it effected more teams than just Crescenta Valley, which was knocked out of the playoffs.

Muir was Pacific League champion, but had been forced to forfeit all its wins when an ineligible player was discovered. Temporarily, that made Glendale the league's No. 1 representative, Hoover No. 2 and Crescenta Valley No. 3.

But with Muir back in the playoff picture, Glendale and Hoover moved back a notch and Crescenta Valley was ousted.

Muir defeated Irvine, which would have been Glendale's opponent, 59-55. Glendale (21-4) defeated Ramona, 78-56. Hoover (14-11), which would have played Ramona, instead was matched against top-ranked Simi Valley and lost, 82-54.

"We had worked four days to prepare for Ramona," said Hoover Coach Kirt Kohlmeier. "I only had one day to prepare for Simi.

"I'm upset--not because of who we had to play--but I'm upset that something like that can happen. If a school has a player that's been there for five years and they get back into the playoffs because of a judge's decision . . . I can't believe that can happen. Basically what it says is that its OK to cheat and that the CIF rules don't mean anything."